Protesters waiting outside abortion clinics are one step closer to being pushed back double the legally permitted amount after the Massachusetts House of Representatives approved a bill yesterday that now awaits Gov. Deval Patrick’s approval.
A week after the Senate approved the Buffer Zone Bill, the House passed it 122-28 to increase the buffer zone surrounding abortion clinics from the current limit of 18 feet to 35 feet. The bill also eliminates an ambiguous six-foot “bubble zone” that allows protesters to approach people entering the clinic if they are not hostile.
Supporters of the bill said the increase will protect patients and staff from protesters who often harass them while entering and exiting clinics.
“[The bill] is a public safety measure intended to protect the rights of both protesters and patients,” said Rep. Martha Walz (D-Boston), who said the bill does not violate civil rights. “All this regulates is the 10 to 15 seconds of someone’s walk into a building.”
Rep. Barbara L’Italien (D-Andover) said she was harassed while entering a Planned Parenthood clinic for routine fertility treatments by aggressive protesters who assumed she was there to get an abortion. Rep. Carl Sciortino (D-Medford) said the “bubble zone” made harassment difficult to prosecute because the legal allotted space is so hard to determine.
Opponents argued the Buffer Zone Bill violates protesters’ free speech and assembly rights and discriminates against pro-life protesters.
Buffer zones overextend clinics’ spheres of influence and are an inadequate form of preventing violence, said Rep. Colleen Garry (D-Dracut).
“Do the abortion clinics want to pay taxes on those sidewalks? Because now we’re making them their property,” Garry said. “In the real world, is a buffer zone going to prevent a crazed man from going in anywhere and murdering someone?”
Other lawmakers said the bill’s passing nullifies any attempts to launch peaceful protests.
“We have watered down our ability to have any kind of meaningful protest,” said Rep. Elizabeth Poirier (R-Attleboro).
